Support Seniors by Making Dental Care More Affordable for Them

Area Agency on Aging has identified dental care as the top concern among seniors through a local survey. For seniors who are getting by on a fixed income or battling poverty, regular dental care usually takes a backseat to necessities like food and shelter.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 1 out of every 5 people above 65 years living in the U.S. has lost all their teeth. What makes matters worse is that the Medicare, the leading health insurance provider for people over 65, does not include any dental coverage.

Consequences of Ignoring Senior Healthcare

Ignoring or delaying oral healthcare has significant repercussions for seniors. When routine oral healthcare is overlooked, many easily preventable or treatable dental conditions get worse and cause pain, infection, and tooth loss. Moreover, the lack of free dental care for low income seniors or no access to oral healthcare affects their overall health. Many oral infections can easily spread and contribute to severe complications in the body, including heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

In the absence of access to dental care, the emergency healthcare facilities and resources in the area also become strained. Patients who reach the emergency room with a dental abscess could have easily avoided this costly experience if they had routine access to dental care.

Prevention Is Less Expensive than Treatment

Preventive measures hold the key to avoiding future complications and costly treatments for the elderly. However, what is more remarkable than the economic implications, is the major impact that regular access to oral healthcare providers has on their quality of life. For seniors, this quality of life can be a simple pleasure of eating an apple.

Fortunately, Congress has already proposed the two bills for including dental coverage to Medicare - Medicare Dental Benefit Acts of 2019, HR2951 and S22 for making dental services affordable for seniors. These two bills would help seniors get access to affordable dental services, including cleanings, exams, X-rays, fillings, root canals, dentures, and emergency dental care.

Dientes Community Dental Care

Dientes Community Dental Care has been providing superior, comprehensive, and affordable oral healthcare for the low-income Santa Cruz County community since 1992. Join Dientes and inform your representative that dental care coverage must be added to Medicare. Visit dientes.org/seniors for further information.

Politicians, dentists, and anyone with a senior loved one, should come together to make dental care affordable for older adults. This will empower seniors to eat, laugh, and smile with confidence and comfort.

Reign Dental is one of the most sought after dental care providers in Seattle area to offer complete dental care. We are among a few dental clinics that provide a wide range of dentistry services including oral & maxillofacial surgery, TMJ treatment, Botox, orthodontics, periodontics and all other advanced dental solutions. Highly professional dentists working with us specialize in dental implants, bone grafting, smile makeover and oral surgery. We are well-known for our safe and patient-specific care approach. We offer affordable and quality dental care services. We make sure that our customers walk out of our clinic with a big beautiful smile.